This invention relates to one-piece containers suitable for use in the distribution of milk, water, other liquids and free-flowing particulates, the containers being capable of transformation between a full-sized use conformation and a compact conformation facilitating storage, recycling, etc., the containers also being adapted for use with a separate handle.
In the United States, most milk is distributed in the retail trade in containers, often referred to as jugs, containing one gallon, more or less. The jugs are typically formed in an extrusion-blow molding process of polyethylene or other polymers. The jugs include a base that is essentially flat, a body formed of four sidewalls extending upward to a tapering shoulder, and a finish portion defining the opening into the jug that can include a threaded cap-engaging portion located above a support ring. The body of a typical jug is generally essentially square in horizontal cross-section with rounded corners. The jugs can include a handle that is formed integrally with the one-piece jug body and/or shoulder. Alternatively, a separately-formed handle can be used that is typically engaged to the jug immediately above or below the support ring. This general form of the jug is essentially constant from the time the jug is formed until the last quantity of milk or other liquid is removed from the jug by the consumer. Even when empty, many such jugs are disposed of in that same form despite the volume occupied by such an empty container.
Collapsible containers are, of course, well known. For example, applicant's own prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,384,138; 5,392,941; 5,417,377; 5,533,638; and 5,575,398 show collapsible, thin wall, plastic containers having a closed end, an annular peripheral side wall and an open end, the peripheral side wall including a plurality of annular steps or shoulders for enabling controlled axial collapse of the container to a compact, collapsed condition wherein at least one fold of the side wall surround a remaining un-collapsed portion of the container, and a removable cap is securable to the open end. Laterally collapsible, thin wall containers are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,080,260; 5,174,458; 5,255,808; 6,170,712; and 6,223,932. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,138, the cap is disclosed to include a further container or chamber of an entirely different structure for holding, for example, a foodstuff.
What is needed is a one-piece jug having sidewalls of substantially equal width, which is suitable for use to hold liquid consumable products and is laterally collapsible as the product is consumed to minimize the storage volume of the jug and to minimize the volume occupied upon disposal and/or recycling. What is particularly needed is such a jug with a shoulder and neck configuration that will retain the opening to the jug in operable condition throughout any lateral collapse of the jug. What is also needed is a handle that can be combined with such a jug.